49th NYFF Main Slate: Established Auteurs & A Number of New Faces

Posted by Eugene Hernandez on 8.17.2011

Along with the well-known international auteurs coming to Lincoln Center this fall, there are a number of new faces invited to the 2011 NYFF.

The Main Slate for the 49th New York Film Festival is set and was unveiled today by the Film Society. 27 films are in the main section of the festival, including the four previously announced galas: Roman Polanski's Carnage, Simon Curtis' My Week With Marilyn, David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method and Pedro Almodóvar's The Skin I Live In. The festival will close with Alexander Payne's The Descendants, starring George Clooney.

Even more films and special events will be unveiled soon to round out this year’s NYFF program.

Award-winners and critically acclaimed entries from international film festivals are among the selections in this year’s festival, particularly the big winners from Cannes. Included on the lineup are two films that shared the Grand Prize: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne’s The Kid With A Bike and Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, as well as best screenplay winner Footnote (Hearat Shulayim).

The most talked about film in Cannes this year was Lars von Trier’s Melancholia. That movie, anchored by fest best actress winner Kirsten Dunst, will be here at the New York Film Festival, as will the film that featured the fest’s best actor (Jean Dujarin), Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist. Among the other acclaimed films from Cannes include Aki Kaurismäki’s Le Havre, Gerardo Naranjo’s Miss Bala from Mexico and Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb’s This Is Not A Film, a film made secretly in Iran and smuggled out of the country on a hard drive hidden inside a cake.

From the Berlin fest, this year’s NYFF will include four of the most talked about and celebrated movies: Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation from Iran, winner of three major fest awards including the Golden Bear for best picture; Ulrich Köhler’s Sleeping Sickness, winner of best director at the festival; Wim Wenders’ stunning dance documentary Pina, a 3D film about the late Pina Baush; and the anticipated final film from Béla Tarr and Agnes Hranitzky, The Turin Horse.

As always, the New York Film Festival will introduce audiences to an array of filmmakers who may be new to American audiences. The women and men from around the world who have made bold new movies are sure to stir discussion as they bring exciting talent to New York City. Sean Durkin’s MarthaMarcy May Marlene is one of the best American independent films to come along in some time, from a director who was at the NYFF last year with a short film. Also on tap are Mia Hansen-Løve‘s Goodbye First Love, Nadav Lapid’s Policeman from Israel and Santiago Mitre’s The Student from Argentina, all of which created buzz this month at the film festival in Locarno. In addition, Alice Rohrwacher’s Corpo Celeste from Italy and Ruben Östlund’s Play from Sweden were strong entries in this year’s Director’s Fortnight section at the Cannes Film Festival.

The complete Main Slate roster, as well as this year's Gala Screenings are listed below.

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